As It Turns Out
by hplover92
Summary: Being dead was much harder than they'd imagined.


"Oh I will throttle her! I swear I will! How could she and he just… Oh I'm going to kill them both!"

She had been ranting like that for a while now. All he did was listen, the last time he had try to say something he was pretty sure she was had started to contemplate what it would be like to strangle him. It wasn't like he didn't understand her fury, but death had a way of making him patient, apparently.

"James, are you listening? I will kill her! He's just a baby! And he's crying why can't she just soothe him! He's in pain, James. My baby is hurt and she can't… she won't… Oh I will kill her and that ridiculous walrus she calls a husband!"

He could sense she was winding down.

"Lily…"

"James Potter don't you talk to me with that ever patient and understanding tone! Why aren't you furious, James? Why can't I smite them anyway? I think I should be at least allowed to smite them, if I can't strangle them!

"Lily you think I'm not mad? You think it doesn't piss me off that my two year old son is sobbing and all that woman and walrus do is lock him in a cupboard? Do you really think that? Because you're wrong, I'm pretty sure I hate your relatives as much as I hate Voldemort, right about now. But Lily… there's nothing we can do. Nothing."

She turned her head to look at him then. That was the first time she had looked away from a sobbing two year old Harry since that fat pudding bowl of a cousin had pushed him from his high chair. There were tears gathering in her eyes.

"But James, he's just a baby… He needs someone to love him. He needs us. James, he needs us."

He gathered her into his arms, then.

"I know, I know. Lily, it hurts more than anything to know that he has to grow up with those people, but he's a Potter, Lily. I promise, he will be fine."

"I don't want him to be fine, I want him to be happy. He's just a baby."

~~~~~~~~~

"They gave him a pair of that Walrus' socks? Really? That's how they are acknowledging my son's birthday? His old socks!"

To be honest, it was slightly entertaining to watch when James blew a gasket. She couldn't blame him, either.

"Jesus, for the Lard's birthday they gave him over 30 presents! And they give Harry socks?"

"James, why are you so surprised? It's not like they've ever really acknowledged his birthday before, not really. I'm surprised they gave him anything in the first place."

He turned to look at her, his eyes burning with an unadulterated hatred.

"My son deserves something that hasn't been worn by a bowl of pudding! He deserves better, damn it! He's 10, for Christ's sake. Why couldn't they give him something? Just this once, why?"

"James… They aren't going to change overnight."

He looked at her then, with sadness in his eyes.

"My parents always said that for just one day the world really did revolve around you on your birthday. Why can't they not treat him like a piece of filth for this one day, Lily? He's such a good boy."

"I know James, I know, but like you've told me a million times before, what can we do?"

"Why are you so damn calm, anyway?" He asked.

She smiled, "Just one more year James, one more and then everything will change. You watch. One more year and someone will save him!"

He smiled back, "One more year."

~~~~~~~~

She had cried as she watched their very own appearance in front of the mirror.

"Sweet boy," she had muttered, "We're here, always here."

He looked at his son. Being dead was hard.

~~~~~~~~

"I cannot believe Dumbledore just let him risk his life like that! He should not be fighting off evil incarnate at the age of 11!" He wondered if she ever got tired of ranting… than again he wasn't all that better on most days.

"He's safe, Lily. He's safe."

"But he could have died! I did not die to see him die so soon! No no no no. He's supposed to be safe at Hogwarts!"

"Lily, last time I checked, it was our son who went through that trapdoor. Dumbledore didn't push him in. He's safe, Lily, that's all that matters, he's ok."

She looked at him, with the same green eyes their son had inherited, there were tears rolling down her face.

"James, why does our son's life have to be this complicated?"

He looked at her, not knowing the answer, instead he replied, "He's a Potter, Lily. He can do anything."

~~~~~~~~

"Damn him! Damn that rat! How can he just escape? AGAIN?"

James may have hated "the rat", but she could still see in his eyes the utter hurt he felt in the betrayal. She also knew that no matter what, he would care for the boy he had once called a fellow Marauder, a fellow brother.

"James, just be glad Sirius made it out ok. Just be glad that they are all safe."

He turned to her, "Remus is going to blame himself, you know, the ridiculous martyr that he is."

"Yes, he will, but we can't change that now can we? All we get to do is watch as our son's life unravels before us."

The sadness she saw in his eyes, she knew was echoed in her own. He sighed an almighty sigh.

"They know the truth now and Sirius is free. Be happy, James, and worry about the rest later. Your best friend is free."

He smiled at her, "Harry has a part of us now."

~~~~~~~

She was rocking back and forth sobbing. She had been hysterical since Harry had arrived in the graveyard. He watched as a woman that was not Lily hugged his son and held him as he cried. Her sobs just heightened at the sound of his cries. He tried to comfort her.

"Lily, he has Molly, Lily. He has her and Ron and Hermione. They will all get through it."

He watched as she urged back a sob.

"He should have me," if he hadn't known her lips had moved, he wouldn't have heard her. He drew her into his arms.

"Yes, our son should have us, now more than ever, but he doesn't Lily, he doesn't, but he's got the next best thing, right? He has a whole other family. He has the Weasleys and Sirius and even Remus. He has them, Lily, he has them."

She nodded her head as her eyes stayed glued to their son. Harry had stopped crying into Molly Weasley's shoulder and now lay in a dreamless sleep. He would not be plagued by a set of nightmares that night. She watched on and he heard her whisper, "I'm here sweetheart, I'm always here."

~~~~~~~

James was jubilant, but she couldn't take her eyes off of Harry. He had now lost the closest thing to a father he had ever known.

"You know Evans, it hurts that you're not ecstatic to see me," Sirius told her after the longest man-hug ever to have been experienced.

She didn't look away from Harry. "He's lost you too now Sirius… he's lost you too"

She knew Sirius and James had finally turned to watch her son. Her boy who had just suffered a great loss; her boy who Voldemort had attempted to possess; her boy who had never known his parents; her boy who was hurting more than ever.

"He'll be fine, Evans, he'll be fine."

For the first time, she turned her eyes to look at him, she saw the pain in his eyes, she saw the feelings of failure in his face, "Sirius…" and he enveloped her in a bone crushing hug. She sobbed with tears of joy at their reunion and tears of utter desperation. Her son needed her.

~~~~~~

"Does she always watch him this intently? Doesn't she get a little bored?"

"Nope, she watches him eat, sleep, poop…"

"James! I do not watch our son use the bathroom! Stop telling him that!"

Sirius just smirked.

"Come on Evans, I believe Prongs on this… You are watching him do detention. Even Harry's bored."

She did not tear her eyes from Harry, but he could tell she wanted to throw him a filthy look.

"So how long do you think it'll take him to make a move on Ginny?"

Lily smirked, "Told you so." She replied.

Sirius looked quizzically at James…

"She's been harping on about how perfect Harry and Ginny will be. She's had them married off since Harry's second year."

"Really? I never saw it when I was with him…"

"That's because you know nothing of subtlety, Sirius. Now look, he's going into the common room."

"YES! I told you so! What did I tell you? Who told you? They are perfect for each other."

Her face was lit up with joy as she turned away from the couple kissing in the middle of the common room.

"I told you so."

Sirius heard James mutter darkly, "She's going to be insufferable after this."

~~~~~~~

"He shouldn't have left."

"He'll be back. I know he will."

"He shouldn't have left."

"Oh you two! Why don't you wear a locket with Voldemort's soul and practically starve for months, than come to me and tell me how you would be reacting."

"I would never leave Prongs. Never."

She rolled her eyes at them.

~~~~~~~

When they go to him, he had never seen Lily so excited. It was a strange feeling finally speaking to their son after so long. They were walking him to his death and it felt so wrong. His son deserved so much more.

Harry deserved to live the life James and Lily never got.

Then they watched him go back. They watched him pretend to be dead.

He could hear Lily muttering over and over, "Oh god, Oh god."

Then it happened. It was over. James blinked. It was truly, finally, and wonderfully over. He turned to Lily. She was laughing with thick tears rolling down her face. He grabbed her into his arms. It was over! Their son had defeated Voldemort. Their son could live!

"He did it," she whispers, "he did it."

"Yes he did."

"He's going to grow old and get married and have kids, James. Our boy will live, James, he did it."

~~~~~~

A century had passed on earth and slowly but surely many members of Harry's earthly family joined them. Molly and Arthur came and then some of their sons. It is not until Ginny arrives though that they really sense the presence of their son.

She arrives looking like a twenty year old once more. She visits with the family that had arrived before her at first, but then she never strays from them. She always talks to them.

Lily shows Ginny how to watch Harry and they sit there like sentries forever watching him. Ron and Hermione arrive next and they settle down to watch Harry as well. Harry is the last of his generation left.

Until, finally, they watch as in his sleep his breathing becomes labored. They watch and Ginny whispers, "That's it, I'm here. I'm here Harry."

He arrives and she runs to him. He grabs her into his arms and they embrace with the intention of never letting go. Ron and Hermione rush to him as well and the rest of the Weasley clan embrace the final member of their family.

Lily and James just wait. Lily grabbed his hand and he squeezed it in return. Then they watched his eyes search for them and lock on them where they stood.

He walks over to them and for the first time in, over a century, Lily and James Potter hug their son.


End file.
